A Little Change of Scenery
by LEJ418
Summary: What if Rory and Logan had broken up in the season six finale? Another exploration of what might have been between Rory and Jess. Post season six VERY, VERY AU! Lit and JavaJunkie
1. Chapter 1

**Summary:** What if Rory and Logan had broken up in the season six finale? Another exploration of what might have been between Rory and Jess. Post season six.

**Disclaimer:** If this show belonged to me I would be on the phone with Milo begging him with vast amounts of money to come back to Gilmore Girls, not writing fan fiction when I should be doing my book report.

**Chapter One**

Rory checked her hair and straightened her skirt one last time in the mirror, Logan's graduation would begin in just an hour and she wanted to look perfect.

"Rory?" Logan poked his head into the bedroom. He had finally, after two hours locked in the study, gotten off the phone with his father. "Can I talk to you a minute?"

"Sure." Rory picked up her hairbrush and proceeded with her hair. "I'm listening."

Logan perched himself on the bed and watched her reflection in the mirror. "There's no easy way to say this but I think we should break up." Rory dropped her brush with a clunk onto the dresser and turned to look at him. His eyes made it clear that he was dead serious.

"Why?" She managed to choke out. She wished she could have seen this coming, wished she had been prepared for this because nothing scared Rory Gilmore more than being caught off guard.

"It's so far Rory."

"Only about four thousand miles."

"And we'll both be so busy, it would be best for the both of us, don't you think?"

Logan didn't think, Mitchum did. "Fine." Rory said softly. "If that's how you want it. I'll have my stuff gone by tomorrow or would today be better for you?"

"Rory, don't be like this."

"Don't be what, Logan? Humiliated? Hurt? Because in all honesty the thing I'm feeling most right now is stupidity that I let things get this far, that I actually let myself fall in love with you. God," She wiped her eyes. "Talk about karma biting me in the ass. Well, it's what it is." She smiled sadly through her tears. "I guess it's not us. Goodbye Logan." She turned on her heel and left, heading to the only place she could think to go, home, to her mother.

It wasn't really her house anymore, Rory thought as she made her way through the empty rooms that were nothing like the ones she'd grown up in. It was her mothers house, and Luke's now, the place they would start their new lives together. Not her's, not now, maybe not ever again.

"Mom?" She called flipping on light switches as she made her way around. No one answered. Rory sighed and sank on into the couch wondering where on earth her mother could possibly be, there were a million possibilities, everywhere from Luke's to the Inn to that boutique in New York that she liked so much. With her mother's phone laying on the coffee table there was really no way of knowing, it was odd, she never left her phone here. Rory glanced at the stack of movies laying on the VCR, wallowing by herself didn't seem a very viable option so she did what she always did when she was upset, plunge into something constructive. She got up off the couch, headed into her old room and flipped on the lights. There wasn't much in here anymore, the bookshelves were empty, the walls bare, and the bed stripped. The whole room gave an air that it hadn't really been lived in for a long time. The only thing left from her old life here was the computer still sitting on her desk where it always had, she imagined that Lorelai probably used it fairly often. Rory sat down in her desk chair and flipped the switch, drumming her fingers on the desk as it booted up. With a precise determination she logged on to the internet and typed the name she wanted into the search engine. Point three seconds later she had the number she wanted. Rory eagerly grabbed her phone and dialed, hoping that someone would pick up this late.

"Harvard University, how may I help you?" A voice asked.

"Hi, is it possible to speak of the Dean of Admissions?"

A/N: Yeah the chapters are kinda short, sorry about that. I'll probably post more than one at a time though.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Lorelai woke with a splitting headache and for a moment wondered where she was. It didn't take long to remember, upon her realization she groaned and fell back into the pillows. This had to be the biggest mistake of her life, nothing good could come out of it, nothing. She didn't want to be with Chris and no matter what happened with Luke she'd have to tell him and he'd never forgive her for it. She couldn't blame him for it. Who could when she'd just found her self waking up naked in her ex boyfriends bed?

"Hey." Chris poked is head in the room, "How are you feeling?"

"I should go." Lorelai looked around for her clothes but didn't see them anywhere. "Have you seen-?"

"They're in the dryer."

"Oh." Lorelai looked at him confused. "Um why?"

"You puked all over them and then passed out."

"I passed out?"

"Yeah, three margaritas, a bottle of wine and some tequila will do that to you. Do you remember anything?"

"The last thing I remember doing is knocking on your door. So I passed out? We didn't-?"

"No." Chris said simply.

"Thank god!" Lorelai exclaimed and tried to climb out of bed. "Um could I borrow a robe or something?"

A/N: I hate the idea of pretending that certain things didn't happen, I actually considered having them sleep together but then…well basically it wrote itself. And in all honesty I like Chris, it makes me sick to think that he would take advantage of Lorelai like that, she came to him needing friendship and support not sex!


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three **

Lorelai glanced around her house noticing that something seemed odd. Someone had been here.

"Luke?" She called. She made her way into the kitchen and noticed Rory's door was propped open, glancing inside she found her daughter laying in her old bed sound asleep.

"Rory?" She made her way in and perched herself on the edge of her daughters bed. "What are you doing here sweets?"

Rory moaned and rolled over. "I'm transferring to Harvard." She muttered sleepily.

"What? Rory, aren't you supposed to be in New Haven getting ready to send Logan off?"

"He didn't want me there."

"Why, is it too hard for him to say goodbye?"

Rory gave a laugh that turned into a half sob. "He broke up with me! All that shit about how much he loved me and how we'd make this work, and the jewelry and the Birkin bags and Asia and one conversation with his father and it's gone!" She burst into loud tears. "And you wanna know what the kicker is? I didn't even see it coming!"

"Rory shhh." Her mother wrapped her arms around her and let her cry. "It'll be okay."

"How did I not see it coming! God, I'm so stupid!"

"Rory, you're not stupid. It happens to all of us. Now what's this about transferring to Harvard?"

"I want to go somewhere else, I- I want to be away from Yale. I've only got a year left but I need change of scene. I just need something different!"

"Shouldn't you think about this a little hon? You're really emotional right now."

"I'm going to Harvard!" Rory continued to sob. "I don't care what Grandpa and Grandma say! I'm going to Harvard!" Lorelai, baffled, continued to try and soothe her emotional daughter, wondering how long she could keep from breaking down under her own emotional stress.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four **

A week had passed before Luke returned to Star's Hollow and his infamous Gone Fishing sign disappeared. A long week of Lorelai and Rory trying to come up with the right words to say. The right words for Lorelai to convey how she felt to Luke, the right way to tell Richard and Emily that Rory was transferring to Harvard, even the right words to comfort each other through their heartbreaks. But now the waiting game was over, Luke's return signified the wheels turning once again.

The diner had never appeared so ominous to Lorelai as it did that day as she stood across the street working up her nerve. It had to be now or it had to be never, Lorelai knew that this was one thing in her life that she couldn't wait another day on. Taking a deep breath she made her way across the street and into the diner. The bell above the door dinged cheerily as it always had when she opened it. She'd always sort of wondered why he had a bell, it never seemed very Luke like to hang a bell on the door. He was at the counter when she walked in, phone under his arm and a plate in his hand. He looked the same, backwards baseball cap, plaid shirt, jeans, a cynical expression. She'd expected him to look different for some reason, maybe it was because she felt different.

"Yeah…listen Jess I'll have to call you back." He said as he spotted her, standing in the doorway being gawked at by the entire town. "Sure…yeah bye." Luke replaced the receiver and looked at her. "Coffee?"

He asked. Her mouth dropped open and before she knew what she was doing her arms were around him and they were kissing.

The wedding came it late July, a simple affair with just Rory and April as witnesses, neither Luke of Lorelai wanted to deal with the drama of having Richard, Emily, Liz, TJ and Jess in the same room together on their wedding day. Having their kids there was enough for them at the moment, they didn't need or want anymore stress in their lives. It wasn't the beautiful white wedding Lorelai had always imagined but she didn't care, she was getting married and she couldn't be happier. Working out their problems hadn't been easy but with their absolute incentive to be together and a lot of coffee and chocolate (mainly for Lorelai) they'd managed to make things work. Rory smiled sadly as her mother and Luke took off for their honeymoon in Hawaii, her mother had gotten her happily ever after, but could she?


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

Harvard. The word that had sent Emily's mouth into a thin line and had caused her grandfather to leave the room. The word that could maybe bring her back to the girl she used to be. Rory wasn't sure why she was here but she couldn't think over anywhere else she would really rather be. She loved her new little apartment that was only four blocks from campus, she loved visiting her dad and Gigi as often as she wanted and she loved the entire feeling of being on her own.

Rory smiled as she unlocked the door to her new apartment. It was tiny but it was in a decent neighborhood and she didn't have to share her space with anyone, no Paris bugging her about what a slob she was or Doyle crying because Paris yelled at him again, and no Logan with his drunken friends. Just the wonderful liberation of being able to kick off her shoes and toss them anywhere, to leave the dishes in the sink and the bed unmade, to turn up the radio to whatever song she felt like.

Rory moved the stack of papers that were piled on her kitchen table and pulled out her lap top to start her very first assignment for _The Harvard Crimson. _Rory waited anxiously as the internet loaded and she logged in to get her assignment. What she found gave her a shock that took her ten minutes to recover from. Her assignment: Interview Jess Mariano and do a review on his book _The Subsect. _


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six **

After recovering from her shock, Rory carefully read over all the information again, making sure she hadn't missed something, anything that told her this was all a joke. For moment she considered calling her editor, telling them that she couldn't possibly review her ex-boyfriends book, but after dual consideration she realized that it wouldn't get her anywhere. This was the real world, she was twenty two years old and if they told her that she had to interview Jess Mariano and review his book in two thousand words then she'd have to do it, though she wondered if anyone could possibly get two thousand words out of Jess, herself included. Rory scrolled through the provided information, how she could reach him, which stores locally stocked The Subsect, and a brief summary of The Subsect. She looked at the number on her computer screen, an area code, three digits and dash and four more digits were all that stood between her and possibly one of the most assignments that she could ever do. Rory reached for the phone.

"Truncheons." Rory breathed a sigh of relief, it wasn't Jess.

"Hi, I'm…I'm a reporter from _The Harvard Crimson _and I was wondering if I could speak with Jess Mariano?"

"Well that depends on how you're angling the story, we don't really like bad press much and the Weekly didn't give us the greatest review. Totally Matt's fault of course."

Rory laughed. "It won't be bad, I loved The Subsect, it's all up to whether the author is feeling amiable or not."

Chris burst into laughter. "That darling, is the question of the hour around here."

Rory smiled wanting more information. "Is he really that disagreeable?"

"Nah, he's just prone to what we call Darcy-ness."

"Darcy -ness?"

"Ever read _Pride and Prejudice_?"

"Only a million times."

"There you go."

"Well I'm very interested in talking to him then."

"Sorry, he's out right now. Can I just get your name and number?"

"Um sure." She gave him her number. Name? She couldn't give him her real name, he'd never call her back.

"Are you still there?"

"Oh sorry, um Paris Gellar." She blurted out the first name that came to her head.

"Okay Paris, I'll have him call you. Nice talking to you by the way."

"Thanks and you too." Rory hung up the phone and took a deep breath. Now she just had to wait.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven **

"Hey some chick called for you." Chris blurted the moment Jess walked in.

"Who?"

"Someone from _The Harvard Crimson_. She sounded hot. Here!" Chris thrust the paper with the name and number to Jess, who looked at it oddly. Paris Gellar? Why was that name so familiar?

"Dude are you gonna call her or mild meld with that piece of paper?"

"Are you sure the name was Paris Gellar?"

"Yeah why?"

"Um…no reason."

"Dude, you look weirded out."

"I'm fine. Are you sure it was _The Harvard Crimson _and not the _Yale Daily News_?"

"Uh yeah."

"I guess I should call her back then."

"I guess you should." Chris turned back to his work, bored with this conversation.

"You're positive this is right?" Jess asked looking at it again, something didn't add up here.

"Dude, I can take a fucking message okay! It's right! Jeez!" Chris threw down his pen and walked out. "I'm taking a break!"

Jess picked up the phone and dialed the number on the paper. It rang twice before someone picked it up.

"Hello?" A voice answered. He knew that voice. He knew that voice very well. "Hello?" Rory said again. Jess didn't say anything. "Jess? Is that you? What is with the not talking when you call people thing? Look, I have this article that I have to do for the paper. Can you just help me out here and give me an interview? After that you never have to speak to me again if you don't want to, I promise." She paused for a moment. "Please Jess." She pleaded.

"Can you come to Philly?" He finally managed to choke out.

"Depends. When?"

"Does this weekend work?"

"Sure."

"I'll meet you at the store at three o'clock Saturday."

"Thank you Jess."

He hung up the phone with a click, unsure of what to say.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight **

The store looked exactly the same as the last time she'd been there, it was between a record store and a café, brown brick, black and green sign that read Truncheon's Books and Publishing. Rory took a deep breath and opened the door.

Jess glanced at his watch as he heard the door open, it was exactly three o'clock. It had to be her, in fact she'd probably been here two hours ago wandering up and down the street until three o'clock, he'd always loved that about her. Logan just thought it was annoying.

"Jess?" She called.

"Coming." He put down his pen and headed into the main room. "Hey." She looked like she used to, back in high school. Her hair was in a pony tail, she wore jeans, a t-shirt and a sweatshirt and she carried a beat up looking blue bag where he assumed she kept her notes. "So do you want to do this here or go somewhere?"

"Here's fine."

" 'K. Have a seat." He motioned her into the tiny office where he and his co workers did most of the working. Rory took a seat and Jess sat behind the desk.

"So, this is really weird." Rory commented, her eyes darting around. Jess shrugged. She began to pull things out of her bag, note book, a tape recorder and a purple light up pen. "Do you mind if I use a tape recorder?" She asked. Jess nodded his head and stared at her pen. "Okay, you ready?"

"Yep."

Rory hit the record button and asked her first question. "How does it feel, at the age of twenty two to have written a novel which has been deemed by the _New Yorker _to be one of the most brilliant tales of human longing since _The Great Gatsby_?"

"That the _New Yorker _needs to get a new book reviewer, one who is not a hopeless romantic."

"So you'd prefer that they get a cynical Hemingway freak?"

Jess found himself laughing. "No, there's just more to it than that, it wasn't supposed to be some tragic Nicholas Sparks type thing that you can cry over. Basically I was trying to show how in life there is no happily ever after and the sooner you figure it out the better, that way you can stop deceiving yourself. The main character, Oliver, knows there isn't anything there for him in life but a job at Wal-Mart and cruddy one room apartment but yet he deceives himself into thinking there is when he meets this girl, Danielle. He falls in love with her but even while he has her he knows he doesn't deserve her and can't keep her so he leaves and breaks her heart. It's not supposed to be pretty or romantic, it's just supposed to reflect the reality of life. It's just the truth"

"Is that what you really believe?"

"I did, at one point in my life."

"What made you change your mind?"

His eyes bored into her. "I figured out a few things."

"Care to elaborate?"

"Not particularly."

Rory continued to her next question. "When did start writing _The Subsect_?"

"After high school I spent a summer in California, I was really angry at the world and I started putting everything I felt into words and two years later I ended up with the Subsect."

"So I take it that a lot of life experience went into this?" They both knew the answer to the question but he answered it anyways.

"Yeah, some of it is, not all of it but I wouldn't say that I wasn't influenced by my life experiences."

"Does that include the characters? Danielle? Grant? Denise? They all seem so real to me."

"Parts of them, no one's character is their exact clone. Danielle and her mother Denise and based on two people I once knew and Grant is sort of like a friend of mine."

Rory took a deep breath and prepared herself for her next question. "Do you believe that love like Oliver and Danielle had can make it in the future, even with obstacles like theirs?"

Jess leaned over and hit the stop button on the tape recorder. "I don't know Rory, do you believe in that kind of love?" His gaze was searching her in that intense way of his.

"I do." She said meeting his eyes. They stared at each other for a moment before Rory hit the record button again. "Next question."


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

"Thank you Jess." Rory said when they finally finished, two hours later.

"Sure."

"So it'll be out two weeks, I can send you a copy if you want."

"That'd be great."

She paused a moment. "Well I guess I should get going then."

"Yeah."

Rory took her time packing up her things.

"Hey Rory. Can I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"What the hell are you doing working for _The Harvard Crimson_?"

Rory looked at him dumbfounded. "What do you think I'm doing working for _The Harvard Crimson_? I go to Harvard!"

"You transferred?"

"Yeah."

"Oh. Why? You've only got another year."

"Just wanted a change of scene. I like it there, it's nice. Different."

"That's cool, I always thought it was weird you didn't go in the first place."

"I wanted to be closer to home but with Mom married now, I just figured we should both have some space." Jess desperately wanted to bring up the fact that they had not spoken for five months last year but decided to stay out of it.

"I should get out there, since I didn't make it to their wedding."

Rory smiled. "Luke would like that."

"Would Lorelai?"

"She'll get over it."

"She's still out for my blood huh?"

"Not as badly, she's got bigger fish to fry at the moment."

"Like who?"

Rory began to tick names off on her hand. "Michele, Kirk, Logan, Bootsy, oh and she's kinda mad a Patty."

"You dated Michele and Kirk?"

"Don't make me hurt you."

"Sorry, so you broke up with Logan?"

"It was the other way around but I'd rather not talk about it."

From the look on Rory's face he figured that Logan probably deserved it if Lorelai came after him with a pitchfork, or in her case most likely a coffee grinder, not that he himself didn't, deserve it that was. Although he and Rory had both screwed each other over enough times they were probably about even, no coffee grinding necessary.

"So I guess I'll see you around then?"

"Bye Rory. Go easy on those poor dumb Harvard guys."

Rory laughed. "That's exactly what Mom said." She smiled. "Bye Jess." And she was gone, out the door and down the street. He wondered if they'd ever see each other again, they were starting to run out of coincidences.

A/N: Sorry, the first posting of this chapter got a little screwed up, I've fixed it now.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten **

"So?" Rory asked as her editor looked up from the book review she was reading over.

"This is great." Alec broke into a wide smile, "Not in anything that I've read about this author have they conveyed so much feeling, not to mention you really got him talking. You've got talent Gilmore."

"Thank you."

"Tell you what, we're looking for a new features editor and I think you'd be perfect."

"Really?"

"You've got experience in editing from Yale and I think you could do really well."

"Thank you."

"I'll talk it over with the other editors but I can fairly safely say you're in."

"Wow, well um let me know. Thank you."  
"Sure. And Gilmore," he called as she walked out of the room. "Phenomenal writing, really."

"You interviewed Jess?"

"Yes."

"Jess Mariano?"

"Yes Mom."

"Sulking, sarcastic, the world can bite my ass, Jess Mariano?"  
"For the last time yes!"

"And?"

"And it went fine, my editor loved it and they're promoting me to features editor."

"You're kidding!"

"Nope."

"Wow!"

"Yeah, I'm so excited!"

"Hey, come home this weekend, we can celebrate a little."

"Sure, what do you have in mind?"

"Shopping of course."

"Shoes?"

Lorelai grinned evilly. "You took half of mine with you and I'm down to only fifty two pairs."

"Fifty-two? Oh the horror! And I did not take half of them!"

"You did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Both of you quit it!" Rory could hear Luke yelling in the background.

"Did too." Lorelai whispered.

Emily Gilmore flipped through the society section of the _Hartford Courant, _just as she did every morning. Long gone were the days where she could smile as her granddaughters lovely face graced the page at some well planned function but never the less she read the entire section every morning. Today's was fairly light, they covered a society luncheon to fund a new library and there were a few wedding, engagement, and birth announcements. Emily skimmed through them to see who she knew. Martin and Clara Hampstead had a baby, she _must _send a _nice_ gift, that family was known for their cheapness, Gloria Ventley had died, goodness, she was nearly a hundred years old. Emily paused as she read the last name on this list, she had to be seeing things, leaning closer she read it again. No she was right. Logan Huntzberger and Clarissa Hanley were to be married in London this February.

A/N: Thanks for your fabulous reviews, more Rory/Jess action to come!


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven **

"Maya!" Emily yelled for her maid. "Bring me the cordless phone immediately!"

The frightened maid came rushing in with the phone. "Here you go Mrs. Gilmore."

Emily grabbed the phone and dialed the number she wanted.

"Maggie… hi, it's Emily. I just got off the phone with Shira, she won't be attending the ball tonight… I know, how unfortunate… no Mitchum won't be there either….Yes, just scratch them off the list…perhaps the Stratton's would like their table? Wonderful, yes I'll get a hold of Nora, good, I'm glad…Thank you Maggie."

Emily hung up and dialed again to speak with her daughter.

"I have not had coffee yet, Rory stole my red sling backs and I'm already late for work. Speak now and do it fast."

"Lorelai!"

Lorelai winced. "Hi Mom, what can I do for you?"

"Logan Huntzberger is engaged."

"As long it's not to my kid."

"Lorelai, listen, Rory should hear this from you."

"I'm not disputing that."

"Of all the wretched things for them to do, I can't believe they think that they can do this! We're Gilmores, for gods sake!"

"Uh huh."

"How dare he dump her and get engaged to a Hanley! A Hanley! Do you know where John Hanley came from? Nebraska!"

"What's wrong with Nebraska, Mom, have you ever been there?"  
"That's not the point Lorelai!"

"It's not?"

"The point is that if the Huntzbergers think that we will stand for this kind of humiliation they have another thing coming!"

"Okay Mom, I'll tell Rory, but at the moment I'm running rather late so I'm just going to hang up okay?  
"Lorelai!"

"Bye Mom. Blech." She said hanging up the phone. "Stupid bastard." Kicking her shoes off she called the inn and informed an already miffed Michele that she'd be late. She considered waiting until Rory came home the next day to tell her in person but decided that chances were good she'd hear before then if she didn't. "Rory?"

"Hey Mom."

"How you doing?"

"Um fine…I'll be home tomorrow."

"I know, I uh needed to tell you something."

"You're pregnant!"

"No."

"Oh."

"Your grandma called me today."

"I'm sorry."

"She called to tell me that Logan is getting married." Lorelai told her gently.

"What?"

"I checked in the paper, just be sure, I'm sorry honey."

"It's fine." Rory said stiffly.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay, take care of yourself alright."

"Bye Mom, I love you."

"I love you too sweets, tomorrow we'll do some serious retail therapy okay."

"Sounds good."

Rory gently hung up the phone still in disbelief. Feelings flitted across her face but the one she felt the most was anger that he would do this to her. It was one thing to break up but it was another to do it under his fathers influence and quite another to get engaged only a few months later. "I hate you!" She yelled and grabbed her shoe, throwing it at the wall. "I hate you!" Letting her sobs overcome her she sank to the floor.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

She couldn't believe she'd let herself come to this, sitting on the floor throwing shoes at her wall because Logan didn't love her anymore. It seemed…wrong…pathetic, and in all honestly completely unproductive. Rory Gilmore always had a plan, she always had an agenda and throwing shoes at her wall wasn't going to get anything done. She needed to change some things in her life, changing schools was just one thing of many that had needed fixing but there was more and she was determined to find it. She would find out where that fifteen year old girl who talked about the round cakes went, the one who hated parties and loved to lock herself in a room with a book. The girl she had been before, before she'd ever met Logan, before she'd slept with Dean, that naïve, happy girl who loved to laugh and study had to be somewhere right?

"What did you do to your hair!" Lorelai demanded the moment she saw her daughter.

"You don't like it?" Rory absently touched her short, simple bob.

"I like it I just…"

"I got tired of messing with my long hair so I cut it again, it's easier."

"Do you feel better?"

"What do you mean?"

"Rory." Lorelai paused. "Honey, this Logan thing can't be easy on you."

"I'm fine Mom, really."

"You got rid of the bangs." Lorelai pointed out as if it explained everything.

"I was bored with them and I never liked them much."

Lorelai looked at her doubtingly and dropped the subject.

Thirteen pairs of shoes later Rory felt a little better.

"See now you've got enough shoes and you can stop stealing mine." Lorelai commented, heaving Rory's heavy bag.

"Never."

"But they don't even fit you."

"That's never stopped you from stretching out all my sweaters."

"I do not stretch out your sweaters!"  
"How many times have we had this argument now?"  
"Shut it. I like this argument."

"Well you'll have to continue it with Luke because I'm going to go hang out with Lane awhile. 'K?"  
"But Luke doesn't wear my sweaters!"  
"Bye Mom." Rory raced across the street to Lane's house.

"Hey." Lane opened the front door and gave her a hug. "It's been forever."

"I know, I'm sorry, things have been crazy with Harvard and all." Rory took a seat on the worn out couch.

"You cut your hair!"

"Yeah, wanted a change."

"A new school, town and home wasn't enough for you?"

"Nope."

"Oh."

"So how's married life treating you?"

"Excellent thank you."

"Really?"

"Well we lived together for awhile so nothings different except…"

"Ah."

"So tell me all about Harvard!"

"It's amazing Lane, you should see the library!"

"Rory, I'm still recovering from the Yale library experience."

"Sorry."

"So Jess was in town last weekend." Lane said offhandedly, trying to pretend it didn't matter.

"Oh?"

"He came to see Luke."  
"Good for him."

"Taylor had a hissy fit."

"Well that's Taylor for you."

"He tried to chase him down the street with that pricing gun he keeps in the market."

Rory laughed. "Are there pictures?"

"Yep, talk to Patty. I guess his book is getting really big, Andrew's got a huge stock of them and he hung your review up next to them."

"That was nice of him."

"Yeah, it was kinda weird having him in town though, you know?"

"He probably won't be around much from what he said when we talked."

"How did that go anyways, I want details!"  
"It was awkward, he said some stuff, I said some stuff, nothing big happened."

"Do you think he's still in love with you?"

"Lane!"

"Well he did come to see you last year."

"Of course not." Rory picked at some fabric unraveling from the couch. "It's been a long time, we're both past it."

"But you guys had such a dramatic, messy break up."

"We're both over it Lane, it's been forever."

"I'm just saying wouldn't it be wild if you ended up together after all these years?"

"Lane, I just got out of a serious relationship the last thing I need is to complicate things by dating someone. And dating _Jess_? We'd need a freaking room just for all that emotional baggage."

Lane shrugged and handed her a cookie while trying not to smile.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen **

"Why can't you stay a little longer? I never you anymore and I'm going to forget what you look like. Then I'll have to figure out how to work my camera and take pictures of you and then you'll cut your hair again and the-"

"Mom, I really have to go, I promised Dad I'd baby-sit GiGi tonight and tomorrow."

Lorelai pouted. "How come he gets all your attention huh? I should call the Hartford police and tell them I know who ruined all the decorations for the 1980 DAR Museum Fundraiser and replaced their lovely George Washington portraits with posters of Van Halen, then he'd get arrested and I'd have you all to myself."

"Would they still care?"

Lorelai thought for a moment. "They didn't then, they were to busy laughing at my mother and her disgust at pictures of 'pot smoking punks.' "

"Van Halen was punk?"

"Grandma's a little pop culture ignorant, did I tell you about the Beatles argument?"

"Yes."

"Keith and Bingo are still alive…insanity."

"We've discussed this before."

"Well, how do you not know the names of the Beatles? I mean Gigi knows the names of the Beatles and she's four!"

"And now she's on a tirade." Rory rolled her eyes and kissed her mothers cheek. "I'll call you when I get home and I'll be here again next week, I promise."

"I love you sweetie, don't die on your way back to school okay?"

"I can't promise that I won't but I will do everything in my power not to."

"Well I worry when you drive out there, you could die or get car jacked or run out of gas in the middle of nowhere, or have some undying urge to become Britney Spears and reenact the hell that was _Crossroads_."

"I can promise I won't turn into Britney Spears." Rory hugged Lorelai again and got into the car. "I really am leaving now."

Lorelai stepped aside and Rory blew her a kiss as she pulled out of the driveway.

**A/N: I'm sorry it's been so incredibly long, it's been a combination of things and I am deeply sorry about it.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Chris broke it to him on Saturday as he was trying battle the coffee maker into complying to actually make coffee and not mud. He was losing badly.

"Shit." Jess yelled as he banged his thumb particularly painfully. Chris made a fist and gave the top of the coffee maker a large whack as he sorted through some paperwork.

"Hey, we need you to go to Boston next week, endorse some books, yours included." He said nonchalantly as coffee began to spurt out everywhere.

"Chris, I don't want to go to Boston!" Jess grabbed some paper towels and attempted to stem the flow of watery brown that was now coming out the side of the coffee maker while trying to ignore the throbbing of his thumb.

"Well someone has to!"

"Yeah, you."

"Oh c'mon, it's your turn, I went to New York three weeks ago. Besides, people in Boston like you after that adoring review you got from Harvard."

"So…?" Jess removed the towels a noted that the flow had curbed to just plain water.

"So…it wouldn't hurt to do a few signings or something while you're- why are you looking at me like that?"

"You. Just. Suggested. That I do _book signings_!"

"Well that's what writers tend to do Jess, they sign books, so that people hear about them and proceed to read them."

"Book signings are for people like JK Rowling and Dan Brown!"

"Are you putting down some of the highest grossing authors in the world now?"

"No, I'm saying that I'm not one of them and I'm not interested in becoming one."

"One signing wouldn't kill you."

"Yes it will because I will find something very sharp and kill myself with it and I just might take you down with me if you insist I do it."

Chris gave him a searching look. "Fine. But you still have to go to Boston."

Jess scowled and tossed the rest of the paper towels into the trash even though water was still ebbing slowly out of several places that it wasn't supposed to be and rolling down the sides of the table.

"Matt's got all the stuff for you, plane ticket, rental car, hotel ..etc. I'd tell you to drive rather than fly but we got a special deal on these tickets. Oh and pick me up a Harvard sweatshirt while you're there, would you?"

"What we need is a new coffee maker."

Chris glanced that the one which Jess had just spent the last five minutes narrowly avoiding catastrophe with.

"That one's fine."

Jess threw a pen at him and went upstairs to pack. He knew he couldn't get out of it, but he thought it was worth a shot anyways. Boston was a big city he probably wouldn't have to see her, she probably lived in Cambridge anyways. But he'd take the phone number she'd left. Just in case.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

"Have her in bed by eight, you've got all the numbers, and I'll be back on Friday morning okay?"

"Dad, we've already gone over all of this obsessively. I'll take her to day care while I'm in class, I'll have her in bed by eight, I won't let her watch more than an hour of television and I'll make sure she doesn't eat any peanuts."

"Or walnuts."

"Or walnuts." Rory repeated.

"Well I guess you've got a handle on things, and I really need to leave. There's some huge dentist convention and traffic is awful." He leaned down towards Gigi, "Be good for Rory okay? I'll be back on Friday morning." He kissed both his daughters on the forehead. " Have fun girls."

"Have a good trip Dad."

Christopher made a face as he walked out the door. "No wild biker parties Rory, your Mom's kept me very informed about all those tawdry doings."

Rory laughed as he climbed into his car and drove off leaving her with her four year old sister.

By eight forty five the two had polished off three sundaes a piece and four Disney movies and Rory was starting to wonder from which parent she'd inherited her iron stomach, the four year old was giving her a run for her money.

"Are you sure you don't want to go to bed Gigi?"

"I'm not tired."

"It's almost nine, you were supposed to be in bed an hour ago."

Gigi pouted. "But maybe just tonight you can stay up a little later-just tonight though," Rory relented. Gigi smiled and clapped her hands.

"Let's watch _The Little Mermaid_!"

"But we already watched it."

"Let's watch it again!"

Pondering what she'd gotten herself into, Rory popped the DVD into the player again just as the phone began to ring.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Jess Mariano was beginning to wonder if all of this was some kind of elaborate hoax and Chris and Matt were back in Philly laughing at what had been a hellish day. To start, the flight he was supposed to get on was cancelled and he had to wait four hours at the airport for the next one, even though he could have driven there in that time, all because they'd refused to refund his ticket. Then upon finally arriving in Boston, where it was cold and drizzling, he found that the airline had lost his bags and that Matt had made some mistake booking his rental car. And to top it all off, after arriving at his hotel by a very expensive taxi well after eight o'clock, cold, wet, and hungry, he found the hotel had given away his room when he'd failed to arrive at the scheduled time and that most of the hotels in the area were completely overbooked.

Grumbling, after having tried every hotel listed in the area, Jess gave up and reached into his pocket. He hated to do this but he was desperate. Carefully he unfolded the paper and dialed the number. Thankfully she picked up after three rings.

"Hello?"

"Rory? It's Jess."

"Oh?" She sounded surprised as she should have. "How are you?"

"Standing in the lobby of the Holiday Inn desperately needing a place to sleep."

"Ooooh?" She dragged out the sound as if she was unsure of what to say, she decided humor was the only way to deal with the situation. "So I suppose you're here for that worldwide dentistry convention?"

Jess let out a laugh. "You know me, I care so much about my teeth."

"And of course you forgot to make your reservations early like all the other evil dentists and now you have no where to stay?"

"That sounds right, although I'm less evil than the other dentists, I promise."

Rory laughed, he'd forgotten how much he liked the sound of her laugh, it had been so long since he'd heard it. "Well I suppose you can stay here, my little sister's staying with me until Friday but she can sleep with me and you can have the couch."

"Thanks Rory."

"It's not a problem. Are you at the one off Blossom?"

"Yeah, but I can take a cab."

"Cabs are expensive, I'll come and get you."

"What about your sister?"

"She's still awake. In fact maybe a drive will calm her down a bit, I gave her too much sugar and now she's jumping up and down on my couch like Tom Cruise."

"Sounds like fun."

"I'll be there in ten minutes okay."

"Thanks Rory."

He hung up the phone and headed to the front to wait for her.


End file.
